Blending In and Standing Out, part II

Anyone working with children certainly appreciates the challenges of teaching meaningful lessons the week before a break.My answer to this quandary is to hand classes over to my students with something I call Share Day. Share Day in music is my absolute favorite time of the year … I invite every one of them to share a musical talent with their class. Sort of a mini-talent show, students are welcome to share a song, dance, instrument, or anything that may fall under the umbrella of Performing Arts. Even students who just want to see what it’s like to play piano or drum set or ukulele (or whatever!), get a chance to perform. I tell them “listen to your heart, play what you hear and try to give it a beginning, middle, and an end” This past week, as always, I was blown away, not only with the myriad performances, but also with how supportive and encouraging every one of them were for their classmates … It was absolutely beautiful … I wish I could share some footage with everyone, but that would negate everything I’m trying to foster. So, parents out there, please know your children are amazing and I am so incredibly grateful to know them When they are given a chance to shine they rise up ❤️

Students in Fourth Grade music classes just finished composing and notating original songs for the recorder in G pentatonic. This week they began their unit on Instruments of the Orchestra. Students will learn about the method of sound production for each instrument and will design and create their own woodwind, string, brass, or percussion instrument.

Students in Fifth grade music class are finishing up their unit learning about chord progressions and building chords. We've been singing and playing songs containing I-V and I-IV-V accompaniments. The students have been identifying the tonic, dominant and subdominant chords in various key signatures and learning about how chords work together to support songs. Beginning next week we will start studying the blues and writing blues songs over the 12-bar blues progression.

BT Treble Makers and BT Family Night at Trenton Thunder!

The BT Treble Makers are scheduled to sing at this year's BT Family Night at The Trenton Thunder! We will sing "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" during the seventh inning stretch--please come on out and join the fun!

Click HERE for more information and to print out a ticket order form!